


Secrets in the Moonlight

by HyperKid



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Other, Widomauk Week 2019, all of the soft love for these two, needs more cuddles, prompt: sleepy intimacies, soft soft soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-09
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-04-23 06:52:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19145785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HyperKid/pseuds/HyperKid
Summary: Caleb always knows the time, so when something wakes him up in the small hours of the morning, something is wrong. Molly trusts him enough not to hide.





	Secrets in the Moonlight

**Author's Note:**

> HK: Happy Widomauk week everyone! No, I have no idea what you mean, I’m totally not riding the wire again.   
> Mollymauk: Today it’s for a good cause.   
> HK: Cuz it was for you.   
> Mollymauk: Well of course, I’m the best possible cause.   
> HK: .... I mean I can’t exactly argue with that. And you deserve all of the soft and cuddles.   
> Mollymauk: So why are you all all the way over there? 
> 
> WARNINGS!! Caleb is an angsty boy, mentions of trauma 
> 
> Disclaimer: sooooooon I will own +1 platinum dragon tapestry! Until then nope. Especially no rights to Critical Role.

Soft moonlight spilled through the cracks in the shutters, painting a faint silver glow over the room. Not bright enough to be what had woken Caleb at... two. Two in the morning. 

 

A hand crept across the sheets, seeking the warm body that should have been beside him. It wasn’t a large bed, and it didn’t take long for fingers to butt up against a smooth lavender hip. Molly was sat up, gazing out of the window. With an effort Caleb roused himself, shifting to curl around Molly’s hips. 

 

“Hey. Are you okay?” He asked, his voice still roughened with sleep. The tiefling’s tail flicked gently along his side but Molly didn’t turn to look at him. 

 

“I’ll do,” came the murmured reply, barely audible over all the little background noises of a world at rest. He sounded almost lost, his mind wandering, and it drew Caleb’s brows down into a frown. Rousing himself a little more, Caleb sat up to press his chest to the length of Molly’s back. 

 

“Do you want to talk about it?” 

 

Moonlight gleamed across pointed teeth as Molly twisted just enough to flash him a smile. 

 

“Would you believe stomach cramps?” 

 

The wizard sighed softly, turning and pressing his face into Molly’s side. 

 

“You do not have to tell me, but you also don’t have to lie to me,” he told the scarred purple skin, lips brushing gently over his hip. Molly stilled for a moment, uncertain, and then a clawed hand stroked gently through his hair. 

 

“You’re something special, you know that?” Molly asked quietly, his voice suddenly a lot more vulnerable without the layers of forced cheer. Caleb snorted out a laugh, giving him a squeeze. 

 

“That’s not such a subtle way of complimenting yourself when you’ve done the same for me for weeks,” he teased, hoping to help lighten the mood a little. Anything to get that worry line from Molly’s brow. 

 

As he’d hoped, another smile flashed and Molly dug his nails gently into Caleb’s hair, dragging a pleased sigh from his lips. 

 

“Touché,” the tiefling agreed, then patted Caleb on the head. “Uncurl a little, I need to kiss you.” 

 

Caleb made a low, sleepy noise, curling tighter around Molly’s waist. 

 

“But then I would have to let you go.” 

 

Molly had to stifle a laugh this time and wrapped his tail around Caleb’s back. It was a little awkward for him to bend, but he managed to press his lips to Caleb’s temple. 

 

“Heavens forbid,” he purred, taking the human by the shoulders to shift him into his lap. Sharp nails stroked through Caleb’s hair, just enough to draw warm, soothing lines across his scalp. “Sorry I woke you,” he said a moment later, his voice softer once more but not quite so... lost. So broken. 

 

Caleb decided it’d have to do, pushing his head gently into Molly’s touch. 

 

“It is no problem. I wish you would wake me more when you’re feeling... unwell.” Now he twisted away just a little, reaching back to brace on the bed and push himself up just enough to press his lips to Molly’s. “It’s not good to go through these things alone.” 

 

For a moment, he wasn’t sure if Molly would brush his words away, would pull on another mask and assure him everything was just fine. For a moment, he could see the indecision in Molly’s eyes, as if the tiefling wasn’t sure himself. 

 

Then Molly smiled softly and leaned in, hand threading back through Caleb’s hair to hold him in place for another, slower kiss. 

 

“The voice of experience,” he sighed against Caleb’s lips. “I don’t know if I’m happy to have someone who understands or furious that you’ve had to.” 

 

Shifting back on the bed for better balance, Caleb wrapped his arms around Molly, fingers tracing lazy patterns over warm lavender skin. 

 

“I find it’s best not to think too much about it. Do you know what you need?” 

 

Molly considered the question for a moment, then sighed and pressed his forehead to Caleb’s. 

 

“Not really... just... this? This is nice.” There wasn’t much closer he could get without pulling Caleb into his lap, but he was seriously considering it. It turned out he didn’t need to. 

 

Caleb hated the moment he had to draw away to move, to get into a better position to straddle Molly’s lap so he could wrap arms and legs around his partner and bury his face in Molly’s neck. But the way Molly’s whole body relaxed, slumping just a little into him as his tail curled tighter still around Caleb’s waist made up for it. 

 

“Like this?” Caleb asked softly, lips brushing over Molly’s skin. The blood hunter considered it a while, pressing his own face into Caleb’s hair. 

 

“This is good. For now. Might have to move in a bit and reposition if that’s alright?” 

 

He sounded softer again, tired and resigned but with a trace of a smile in his voice that sounded like the Molly Caleb knew. The Molly who’d take his hand and guide Caleb back through nightmares. Caleb tucked his chin into the crease of Molly’s neck, pressing a soft kiss there. 

 

“Whatever you need, Mollymauk. Anything you need. Always.” 

 

Molly made a weak little sound almost like a mew, his grip tightening almost painfully on the wizard in his arms. When the shaking started Caleb was ready for it, wrapping as much of Molly as he could reach in himself and rocking him slowly through it. 

 

Eventually they wound up laying back down in bed, but this time it was Caleb with his back on the pillows and Molly curled up on his chest. The tiefling’s eyes were closed, but the lazy brush of his tail back and forth across Caleb’s shin, the swirling patterns drawn by warm fingers on the wizard’s hip betrayed his wakefulness. There were no words for the moment. None were needed. 

 

What could Caleb say? 

 

That Molly’s past held no fears? That nothing could hurt him? No one knew better than Caleb just how far that was from the truth. They’d be empty, hollow words, and Molly would close off from him. 

 

All he could say would be that he was here, he was here with Molly and for Molly, and that was said better with his arms. 

 

The tiefling seemed to be calming now, his breathing slowing and evening out as he traced invisible patters on Caleb’s skin. 

 

“You’d look so pretty with some tattoos,” he murmured idly, his lilting accent curling more around the words with his tiredness. Red eyes flicked open to glance up at Caleb. “Did you ever think about taking ink?” 

 

Caleb managed a sleepy smile in return, pressing his lips to the top of Molly’s head. The peace and quiet of their moment had lulled him a little closer back to sleep than he’d been expecting. 

 

“It isn’t something I ever thought about at all,” he admitted honestly, his own fingers skimming up the pattern of peacock feathers on Molly’s arm. “I don’t know that they would suit me as well as they suit you.” 

 

Molly made a dismissive little grumble, brushing away Caleb’s words with a wave of his hand. 

 

“You’d be beautiful covered in flowers. Or cats. Or little glints of gold and gems.” He paused, feeling Caleb’s whole body go stiff beneath him. But instead of asking, he kept talking, his voice slipping into that low, soothing cadence he used when talking to something delicate. Something precious. 

 

“I’m sure Jester would design something pretty for you. Maybe a collage of all the shapes you’ve made with Frumpkin. The cat in the middle, of course, because that’s the most important. His real shape. And then the sparrow, poised to take flight. Nott told me once you’ve made him an octopus too. I’ve never seen an octopus before, so you might have to show me. Or Jester will. And of course, because it’s Jester you’ll have to find where she hid a dick in it.” 

 

They were all nonsense words, empty and meaningless, and stroking slowly across Caleb’s spine. A balm for the tension that had twisted him into knots. He let himself drift with the words, letting Molly paint a picture for him to lose himself in. He managed to unclench his jaw enough to speak. 

 

“You think she would hide only one?” 

 

Molly’s light laugh against his chest felt like a reward, melting away another level of tension. 

 

“I think she’d hide a dozen, just in case we found any of the others. But she’d make it beautiful, too. Something worthy of you.” 

 

Pointed claws dimpled the skin of Caleb’s jaw as Molly tipped his face down to look at him. There was concern in those red eyes, soft and open and so, so caring. It felt wrong, when Molly had been so vulnerable before. Wrong to make him try to comfort Caleb when Caleb should have been comforting him. 

 

The wizard managed to force a smile to his lips. 

 

“You all seem to think I’m worthy of a lot more than I do,” he pointed out quietly. Molly rewarded him with a gleaming smile and a cheerful flick of his tail. 

 

“Then you’ll have to take the majority opinion, won’t you? We could vote on it if you’d like.” 

 

It was preposterous enough to force a laugh from Caleb, as if things could ever be so simple. But Molly was still smiling at him, gentle and tender and genuinely, heartrendingly happy to get even that from him that a real smile formed in return. 

 

“I’m not sure our little group counts as a majority, Mollymauk.” 

 

The words themselves sounded like a protest, but Caleb was sure Molly would understand. The banter was something light to talk about, sound and noise and shared understanding that while things weren’t okay, they could be. It didn’t have to be immediately. 

 

Molly twisted around onto his stomach to grin up at Caleb, resting his chin on the wizard’s chest and grinning. 

 

“Definitely a majority of people I know. And the people who know you best. Who else’s opinion would count?” 

 

One of Caleb’s brows rose in spite of himself, a real smile tugging wryly at his lips. 

 

“You are very confident you know me for someone who never asks about the past.” 

 

Molly fell silent for a moment, apparently weighing his next words heavily. Caleb let his fingers tangle through the tiefling’s hair to stroke idly through, giving him his time. Eventually he leaned up and pressed his lips to Caleb. 

 

“Maybe your past made you who you are. But I don’t need to know that to know who you are now. And who you are is pretty great, at least from my perspective. I’m not gonna tell you how to feel about your past, love, because it’s yours, but the Caleb Widogast I know deserves a whole lot.” 

 

Thick, hot tears piled up behind Caleb’s eyes, his hands falling around Molly’s waist automatically as he shifted. Even knowing Molly didn’t know, couldn’t know what a monster he was... a tiny part of him wanted it to be true. Wanted to believe he could be that again. 

 

Someone worth something. 

 

He hid his face in Molly’s hair, ignoring the glittering jewellery digging into his cheek. And Molly, his sweet, wonderful Mollymauk, didn’t ask him what was wrong. Didn’t try to make him articulate it or talk about anything. 

 

No, Molly just shifted within his grasp until he was sat in Caleb’s lap, arms wrapped around him to hold him close. The tiefling’s tail curled lazily around his hip, rubbing up his back in a soothing line of pressure to play with his hair. 

 

“It’s okay, love,” he murmured to his human’s neck, nuzzling against his skin. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.” 

 

Caleb burrowed deeper into his reassuring warmth, squeezing his eyes shut. Molly always felt a little flushed to the touch, a few degrees hotter than human norm, like someone with a fever. Sometimes it made it hard for Caleb to touch him if he dreamed of fire, waking with smoke and a scream in his throat. 

 

Most of the time, it was that warmth that cut through the fog around his brain, easing him back to himself. It was working now, and the slow patterns Molly was tracing along his back with fingers and tail. 

 

“Sorry,” the wizard rasped after a long moment, “I was supposed to be comforting you, and now I’m...” his voice trailed off, self loathing threatening to steal his words. Molly tutted him softly, leaning back just enough to press their lips together. 

 

“This is helping me. Looking after you means I’m not thinking about any of my bullshit.” 

 

Caleb wanted to protest, wanted to tell Molly that if it was hurting him it wasn’t just bullshit. But at the same time, he could completely empathise. It would be nice to be able to dismiss all of his trauma, anxiety, awkwardness, just as meaningless bullshit he could ignore. 

 

Something that didn’t define him. 

 

His grip tightened a little around Molly and he closed his eyes, pressing his forehead to the tieflings. Purple curls tickled across his brows, soft and slight. 

 

“We make quite the pair, don’t we?” He murmured, smiling when he felt Molly’s chuckle. 

 

“Why Mr Caleb, I can’t imagine what you mean.” 

 

It was Molly’s society voice, proper and polite and only ever used ass deep in a con. Or to make Caleb smile. 

 

“I have never known you to be unimaginative, Mr Mollymauk,” he teased in return, hands sliding down to Molly’s hips. This time Molly laughed, draping his arms over Caleb’s shoulders. 

 

“Then you know I’ve thoroughly taxed every possibility.” There was a brief pause, then Molly sighed softly, breath ghosting across Caleb’s lips. “I don’t want to go back to sleep.” 

 

It was a small confession, for once free of all the bluster and bravado that was usually so very Molly. Just to hear that openness in his voice struck straight to Caleb’s heart. Molly was never vulnerable... except with him. 

 

There was only one answer he could possibly give. 

 

“We don’t need to, liebling. I’ll sit up with you if you like.” 

 

A low chuckle slipped from Molly’s lips, pushing lightly at Caleb’s chest. 

 

“You need your sleep though.” It sounded more like Molly was trying to convince himself than anyone else. Caleb shrugged, shifting to regather his tiefling into his lap. 

 

“I have slept enough. And I don’t want you to be alone.” 

 

This time it was Molly who fell silent, eyes closed as the two sat together, breathing in each others air. It was a mark of how much he truly didn’t want to be alone that he didn’t push, didn’t insist Caleb get back to sleep and give him some privacy. 

 

“Thank you,” he whispered, his tail coiling around Caleb’s waist. The wizard smiled against his lips. 

 

“Anytime, love.” 

**Author's Note:**

> HK: I have ooooone more piece I hope to have up by the end of the week, this one belatedly for the nightmare tag cuz GUESS WHO NOTICED TODAY that a fic from last year fits that perfectly? Wish me luck!


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